Can you believe it?!?! Valentine’s Day is just a little over a month away!!! While I may think the actual meaning of Valentine’s day is rather silly. All it really is for hubby and I is an excuse to get a sitter and have a fancy steak dinner somewhere child free!! However, Valentine’s Day does give me a fabulous excuse to craft and make all things heart and totally girly!!!’ Most people go overboard with Christmas is the crafting/baking department. I got nuts over all things red and pink for Valentine’s Day!!! Just love when I can break out the heart shaped sprinkles and that’s exactly what Haylie and I did this morning when we made these Valentine Heart Shaped Cinnamon Rolls! Haylie practically made these herself, so I hope you enjoy her creation!

Supplies

• 1 Can Cinnamon Rolls. (Make sure you can roll them out. Most store brands and the large Grands)​​• Valentine Sprinkles

unroll your Cinnamon Rolls.

Take both corners of your Cinnamon Rolls and start rolling them to the middle. Once you reach the middle, pinch the bottom to make a point. Make sure to pinch together really good so the dough stays together when baking.

Pre-Heat the oven to 400 degrees and cook for 8-10 minutes. The Cinnamon Rolls cook rather quickly when rolled like a heart, so keep an eye of them!

Let’s Chat!

What are some of your favorite Valentine’s Day treats?!

This post was sponsored by Amazon as part of an Ambassador Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

There is no denying it. We are an amazon family! Prime is our favorite way to shop & Alexa helps hubby and run our empires smoothly, especially during the holidays! Honesty, it’s hard to remember a time Alexa wasn’t there to help save the day & make our holiday season extra festive!

With all of us having type A personalities, we were one of the very first families we knew to welcome Alexa into our home. Since interacting with Alexa is as simple as asking a question. Just ask her to play music, read the news, control your smart home, tell a joke, and more, you best believe our collection of devices just kept growing and growing! Whether you are at home or on the go, Alexa is designed to make your life easier by letting you voice-control your world.

​When we found out about Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition, I might have gotten a tad bit excited! Families just like ours have loved using Alexa in their households so Amazon wanted to provide a kid-friendly, kid-centric Alexa experience with parental controls! My daughter loves playing with our devices and now she can have one of her very own! No more stealing mommy’s Alexa to play Santa Shark over and over, she can ask her very own Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition instead!!!

Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition

Help your kids get into the holiday spirit through brand new holiday-themed content on Echo Dot Kids Edition and FreeTime on Alexa. Kids have access to age-appropriate music! That’s right, unlike Mommy & Daddy’s devices, Echo Dot Kids Edition is filtered with FreeTime on Alexa that lets parents select which services and skills kids can use, turn off voice purchasing, and more. Parents can also block explicit song lyrics with Amazon Music, and use Household Communications for announcements, calling, messaging and drop-in within the home.WooHoo!!! You can also find kid friendly Q&A, Audible audiobooks, Alexa skills, character alarms and more. I swear after one day of having an Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition in your home, you will be asking yourself how you ever went without one!

FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa

For all of you Alexa newbies, I know what you’re asking yourself. What the heck is this FreeTime Unlimited that you speak of? FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa is how you keep your child entertained since it includes over 300 Audible kids’ books, ad-free radio stations and playlists, character alarms, and premium Alexa skills that kids will love.

FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa is also available on Echo devices starting at $2.99 per month. And, families that already subscribe to FreeTime Unlimited on Fire tablets or Android devices can enjoy FreeTime Unlimited on Alexa content at no additional cost. So if your kids have those popular Fire Tablets like my daughter, hook your Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition for free!

Get More Festive This Holiday Season!

Does your family make it a tradition to see as many family and friends as possible during the holiday season? Let Alexa help you organize errands and keep track of your busy schedule and to-do lists.

• Alexa, add holiday party to calendar on December 20th at 7 p.m.• Alexa, remind me set out the dining room table decor tomorrow• Alexa, where is the nearest Whole Foods? …Alexa, call them to see if they have a rib roast available. • Alexa, add go to the grocery store to my to-do list• Alexa, create a holiday dinner menu

Help your kids get into the holiday spirit through brand new holiday-themed content on Echo Dot Kids Edition and FreeTime on Alexa. Here are some fun things to try:

The Santa Letters

Does your child ask to see Santa daily?!?! My child is Santa obsessed!!!!! Thanks to Alexa Skill Blueprints “Santa’s Letter” blueprint, your kiddo can write a letter and wish list to Santa and check back every day to track its progress to the North Pole!!! You’ll even hear a weekly response from Santa himself. And with the “Hallmark Holiday Greeting card, ” you can create and share a Hallmark greeting card with family and friends, complete with custom images and personalized messages. Go to blueprints.amazon.com to get started.

• Alexa, help me send a letter to Santa.• Alexa, where is my Santa letter?• Alexa, help me send a holiday card.• Alexa, help me send a Christmas card.

Bringing Back Nostalgic Holiday Traditions with Alexa

Is holiday cooking and baking together as a family part of your holiday traditions? Let Alexa help along the way! We love using our new Echo Show for picture step by step cookie directions while using my daughters Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition to play our favorite holiday tunes!!! If you haven’t heard Santa Shark, we highly recommend it if Baby Shark is your jam!

• Alexa, show me a cookie recipe• Alexa, add eggs and sprinkles to my holiday shopping list• Alexa, set a cookie timer for 25 minutes• Alexa, how many tablespoons are in a cup?• Alexa, find me a holiday dinner main course recipe• Alexa, ask Food Network for popular recipes from Bobby Flay

Let’s Chat!

Are you an Alexa family? What ways do you use your device during the holidays?

This post was sponsored by Amazon in partnership with Forward Influence. However, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Holiday shopping! I can’t help but LOVE it! Nothing makes me happier than seeing those smiles on Christmas Day. I’m a type A gal to a T, so you best believe that 99% of my holiday shopping is complete way before Thanksgiving Day. My goal every year is to have those gifts purchased before Black Friday to guarantee my role of playing Santa goes off without a hitch. Nothing worse than disappointed loved ones on Christmas Day!

However, every year we end up playing hosts to unexpected guests. As much as I love playing hostess and spending time with loved ones, during the holidays it can put you in quite the predicament. There are some families on our shopping list that have always been Amazon gift card people. They live thousands of miles away, so sending a gift card for the family to spend is the easy-peasy, crowd-pleasing choice. Mom & Dad can buy themselves something shiny or scoop up those “must have” toys for the kids on their list.

When these families surprise us with a visit and we have younger kids staying with us, a gift card no longer feels like a very thoughtful option. It would break my heart for those kids to sit there watching all the other kiddos unwrapping toys.

Thanks to Amazon Prime Now, I was able not only to find this season’s hottest toys, I scored free same-day delivery because Prime members can enjoy FREE SAME-DAY DELIVERY OR ONE-DAY SHIPPING in 10,000 cities and towns coast-to-coast! That’s right! All I had to do was hit up Amazon, click a few buttons and my gifts were delivered to me same day, which reduced my holiday stress while I continued to get our house ready to entertain a guest. It really is true: Amazon does help customers deliver smiles to their friends and family this season, transforming them into holiday heroes.

​Prime Now not in your area? Don’t sweat! You can still find this season’s hottest toys last minute on Amazon. Amazon is committed to #DeliveringSmiles this holiday season through a variety of ways, including free shipping for EVERYONE through December 18 on orders that arrive in time for Christmas, so you can shop hundreds of millions of items with no minimum purchase amount – the largest free shipping selection in the country! This year, it’s time to celebrate (not stress)! With low prices, vast selection, innovative ways to shop when and where you want, and convenient doorstep delivery, Amazon has you covered this holiday.Need to borrow my ideas for Last-Minute Holiday Gifts For Kids? Keep scrolling to see what kid-approved gifts – yes, my 6 year old helped me out – Amazon delivered to my doorstep to help save Christmas!

1. L.O.L. Surprise! Pearl Style 2 Unwrapping Toy

There isn’t a kid that I know who is not totally obsessed with those YouTube unboxing videos and L.O.L Surprise takes center stage in those videos. There are so many versions of L.O.L. Surprise! To choose from on the Amazon Holiday Toy List, including the L.O.L. Surprise! Biggie Pet Dollmation and L.O.L. Surprise! #Ootd (Outfit of The Day). We recently ordered the L.O.L. Surprise! Pearl Style 2 Unwrapping Toy and how so much fun discovering a limited-edition Doll and Lil Sister inside. You will be forever known as the master gift giver if you give the gift of unboxing L.O.L Surprise.

Shopping for the [e]kiddo who has everything? You know they have plenty L.O.L Surprise & Hatchimals & don’t want to give a repeated gift? Another hot gift item this year is the Poopsie Slime Surprise Unicorn-Rainbow Bright Star Oopsie Starlight. My daughter can’t stop obsessing over Poopsie Slime Surprise, so you better believe that Santa not only asked the elves at Amazon to deliver one for our guest, but one for her too!

I know it can be tough keeping up with all the latest toy trends. Until my daughter started grade school, I was so out of the loop! Now that I have a 6-year-old in the house who is totally“in the know” about the hottest gift suggestions, I’m happy to pass along tips to inspire a few of your Last-Minute Gift Ideas For Kids! And remember, you can find the perfect gift that will deliver a smile to that special someone by visiting amazon.com/gifts.

Need another gift idea?!? Check these ideas out from a few other fab bloggers ;)

It’s officially the time of year I hate to leave the house! The most fabulous and festive event can be taking place and it will take everything in me to step outdoors to attend! I just hate the cold and if you add snow to the mix, unless I’m at a ski resort, no thank you!

Thankfully December is a fun month craft-wise! One peak at Pinterest and you will have more indoor entertainment ideas than days! One of my daughter & I’s favorites? Making Christmas Aromatherapy Play Doh! So fun to play with and it leaves the room you’re playing in smelling fantastic for days!

Let’s Chat!

Have you ever made homemade play doh?

How many of you are Advent Calendar obsessed?!?! I’m still jealous of all of you that live in states were you were able to score those Aldi Wine Calendars. I guess I will have to settle with all of my makeup Advent Calendars since New York is a lame state with zero wine sold on stores. Boo!

Just imagine how excited your kiddos would be if they had Advent Calendars of their own?! You can enjoy your wine, cheese and makeup Calendars while your kiddo opens an Advent Calendar filled with toys? Thanks to PLAYMOBIL, this can happen! Start not only your holiday season off right, but your kiddos as well with the new PLAYMOBIL Advent Calendars!

PLAYMOBIL Advent Calendars

PLAYMOBIL Advent Calendars are available in Horse Farm, Santa’s Workshop, and a new NHL licensed Road to the Cup! Each of three new PLAYMOBIL Advent Calendars reveal a surprise item each day leading up to Christmas! On the 24th day,a beautiful themed playset will be complete and ready for play!

Since the awesome people over at PLAYMOBIL were kind enough to send us two of the three Advent Calendars, I told my daughter she could open one of the two for all of you! She decided to open the Horse Farm & we will save Santa’s Workshop for December to open correctly!

My daughter takes therapeutic riding lessons weekly, so she was instantly drawn to the horse farm! She loves all things horses and this PLAYMOBIL Horse Farm Advent Calendar did not disappoint! Filled with a variety of horses with decorative reins, saddles, farm cats, equestrians & riding instructors, there is literally hours of pretend play in this calendar!

One of the nice details I personally liked about this calendar was that inside each compartment, the toys are securely wrapped! So if you have super little ones who love to put things in their mouths, you can have peace of mind knowing they won’t eat any of those pieces since mom and dad need to open each toy for them.

You can find these calendars on the PLAYMOBIL website or where PLAYMOBIL items are sold!

Let’s Chat!

welcome

CourtneyLynne is former model turned mommy & wifey! When not blogging all things foodie, fashion, travel, mom life & straight up fabulousness to the masses, she can be found chasing her toddler around in 6in stilettos & laughing at her own jokes her glass of wine told her to tell.